Dr. Sheikh Lukman bin Sheikh Abdul Hamid
Acting director of lifelong learning centre, brunei darussalam
The Lifelong Learning Centre is proud to be a centre of excellence; expanding learning opportunities for all learners. Recently established, we are proud to be offering over 140 courses, ranging from Academic upgrading to Community development programmes. Together with our highly esteemed course providers, we are continuously revamping and revising our programmes to keep up with specific industry needs, and to ensure these are in alignment to the real world needs of the everchanging market.
As a centre of excellence, we pride ourselves in achieving our vision through engaging collaboration with our training providers, providing an accessible and inclusive avenue to our training programs, encouraging respectful learning environments for all learners, and increasing innovative opportunities through our wide selection of programs and meaningful synergy with relevant stakeholders such as: MPEC Secretariat, under the Prime Minister’s office and JobCentre Brunei.
On a national scale, the Centre holds a vital role to achieving Brunei’s vision 2035 in developing a well-educated and highly skilled society. Under the authority of the Ministry of Education, we strive to provide equal access to opportunities to programs that not only, nurture but enhance human capital development for capacity building in Brunei. At L3 , participants are able to gain first-hand expertise and knowledge from industry leaders. Our programs and courses have been carefully designed to ensure they meet the standardized guidelines to be our Registered Training Organization (RTO), these include: community development programmes, such as: hand embroidery workshop, academic upgrading and workforce development programmes.
As we are in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution, it is essential that we are continuously diversifying our skill set to meet the demand of a rapidly changing market. With the rise of automation and the use of artificial intelligence, we have seen a changing landscape of the world we know and how technology has reshaped our reality of life and work. The emergence of a gig economy is one prime example, at which the work landscape is rapidly changing and although poses opportunities, also has its risks. Reports have predicted that not only will certain skills be obsolete, but that 85% of jobs that will exist in 2030 have not been invented yet. At these alarming rates, the impacts of science and technology cannot be underestimated. Therefore, continuous reskilling and upskilling is vital not only for career advancements to ensure an adaptable and competitive edge on the ever-changing job market, but also for individual fulfillment in gaining self-confidence through a rapidly changing world. Just 10 years ago, jobs such as social media marketing and web developer were non-existent. In today’s world, technological skills are essential everyday practices, especially in a changing workforce.
Looking back at our previous accomplishments, we are humbled to have had the opportunity to hold an online meeting with UNESCO Institute for Lifelong learning on the 29th September 2020. Likewise, we have had the opportunity to participate in the 2020 Global Education meeting – UNESCO, Technical Segment, Global Education on 20th October 2020. In the upcoming years, we will continually strive to collaborate with global partners and aim to be among the international standards for lifelong learning practices.
Together, with our training providers, I hope we can continue to be a key driving force of lifelong learning practices in Brunei Darussalam. We are looking forward to developing a future ready society through a cultural shift towards lifelong learning that recognizes and advocates for a learning society.
“We strive to provide equal access to opportunities to programs that not only, nurture but enhance human capital development for capacity building in Brunei”